10 of the biggest gigs in history (2024)

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10 of the biggest gigs in history? ›

Rod Stewart holds the current world record for the largest concert performance. He performed on Copacabana Beach on New Year's Eve in 1994 for 3.5 million people.

Rod Stewart holds the current world record for the largest concert performance. He performed on Copacabana Beach on New Year's Eve in 1994 for 3.5 million people.

An estimated five million people attended the funeral of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser on 1 October 1970 in Cairo, Egypt.

Elton John's Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour began in 2018. After five years of extensive travelling, playing over 278 sold-out concerts with over 5 million fans, it is the highest-grossing tour worldwide of all time.

- In 1991, around 1.6 million people gathered for Metallica's "Monsters of Rock" concert in Moscow.

1 Grateful Dead - 107,019

Deadheads packed Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey on September 3, 1977. The concert drew 107,019 fans making it the largest ticketed single concert in American history.

The Woodstock Festival was a three-day pop and rock concert that turned out to be the most popular music event in history. It became a symbol of the hippie movement of the 1960s.

With more than 69,000 people in attendance, Taylor Swift has officially broken the record for the highest attended concert for a female artist in the U.S.. Swift overtook Madonna, who had held it since 1987 when she performed at Anaheim Stadium in LA in front of 63,000 people.

Michael Jackson Official Site

On October 1, 1992 Michael played Bucharest, Romania on his Dangerous World Tour to a sold-out stadium of 90,000 screaming fans.

What concert was bigger than Woodstock? ›

The Summer Jam at Watkins Glen, the Grand Prix racetrack in New York state, took place on July 28, 1973. It was attended by a mind-boggling (and record-breaking) total of 600,000 people, who enjoyed hours and hours of music provided by just three acts, the Allman Brothers Band, the Grateful Dead, and The Band.

According to wiki answers, the fastest selling concert in the U.S. was Paul McCartney, which sold out in 7 seconds. However, that was for a Las Vegas show with a capacity of only 4,000 people. In McCartney's defense, though, he did sell 40,000 tickets for a show in Mexico City in 11 seconds.

Ac/dc Largest Concert Crowd Ever

AC/DC Live At River Plate was recorded in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in December 2009. AC/DC played to a sold-out crowd of nearly 200,000 (more than three times as many as their previous sold-out show). What is your biggest concert Metallica has ever performed?

Some concerts go down in history and the 1991 'Monsters of Rock' festival in Moscow was no exception. Known as one of the biggest concerts to ever take place, with a huge 1.6 million attendees, it marked the most momentous of performances for the heavy metal band Metallica.

Rock in Rio, Brazil, January 1985

The shows on 12th and 18th of January attracted the biggest crowd Queen ever played to, with an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 people in attendance each night.

“The White Stripes were in fact recognized in the 2009 edition of the Guinness World Records book for the shortest music concert ever when, on July 16 2007, they played just one note at St John's in Newfoundland, Canada,” they said.

Rod Stewart at Copacabana Beach, Brazil (1994)

The Rod Stewart concert at Copacabana Beach in Rio De Janeiro, held on the New Year's Eve of '94, stands to be the largest attended free rock concert in history.

The Moondog Coronation Ball was a concert held at the Cleveland Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, on March 21, 1952. It is generally accepted as the first major rock and roll concert.

Who is the highest selling solo artist of all time? ›

Elvis Presley, recognised as the best-selling solo music artist of all time by Guinness World Records, sold over 400.

What was Woodstock? Woodstock was the most famous of the 1960s rock festivals. Its full name was The Woodstock Music and Art Fair. It took place on a farm property in Bethel, New York, August 15–18, 1969.

According to Britannica, Woodstock sold around $1.4 million in tickets, however, this figure is debatable. Advanced tickets cost $18 and tickets "on the door" were $24, with around 186,000 tickets sold meaning that the organizers should have taken $3.24 million.

So it was certainly justified that Jimi Hendrix was billed as the overall headliner at Woodstock in 1969, and that he commanded the highest paycheck of all performers. Hendrix was paid $18,000 for appearing at Woodstock, which is the equivalent of about $125,000 today.

Madonna is believed to have sold the most records among any female music artists in history, with 300 million records sold worldwide.

Ed Sheeran - The ÷ (Divide) Tour (2017-19)

Ed Sheeran broke U2's record in August 2019 and held it for more than three years. Across six continents, Sheeran sold nearly nine million tickets, still more than any other run in Boxscore history.

The Beatles sold over 600 million albums worldwide, whereas Michael Jackson sold over 400 million albums worldwide.

Michael Jackson's Net worth:

Michael Jackson had a $500 million net worth before dying. However, he went bankrupt after requesting a $380 million loan from Bank of America to finance his lifestyle.

Billed as "an Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music" and alternatively referred to as the Woodstock Rock Festival, it attracted more than 400,000 attendees. Thirty-two acts performed outdoors despite sporadic rain. It was one of the largest music festivals held in history.

What was Garth Brooks biggest concert? ›

On August 7, 1997, an estimated one million people attended Garth Brooks' legendary concert in New York City's Central Park, which was the largest concert in the city's history. The concert at Memorial Stadium is the most attended concert of his career, with a capacity of more than 80,000 people.

The Beatles have the most No. 1 hits of all time: 20. Though unclear for how long, the Beatles still reign supreme as the artist with the most No. 1 songs of all time.

Over the course of Elvis' life, he achieved some of the highest accolades in music and film. It is estimated that more than one billion Elvis records have been sold worldwide, more than anyone in record industry history.

Jamiroquai still holds the record for the highest recording and fastest concert.

Debunking the “instant sellout” myth

Given this description of selling out, the conclusion is simple: It's not possible to sell out a concert in less than double the cart timeout time, normally around 20 minutes.

According to Pollstar, Metallica have sold approximately 22.1 million tickets since 1982, bringing in around $1.4 billion. This is in comparison to AC/DC (14 million tickets sold) and Ozzy Osbourne (13.2 million tickets if one combines both Ozzy and Black Sabbath sales).

What was the largest rock and roll concert? ›

Michael Jackson Official Site

All in all, Michael performed 123 shows in 15 countries for 4.4 million people.

Being one of if not the biggest classic metal band in the world, it was only a matter of time until Metallica broke a Guinness World Record. In 2013, the band made history by playing shows on all seven continents in just one year. (That includes a special show for scientists on Antarctica.)

Madonna. By the time Live Aid took place, Madonna was one of the biggest, if not the biggest pop star in the world thanks to the release of Like a Virgin, which had been out for nine months.

Similar crowds were drawn on Led Zeppelin's subsequent U.S. tours, and they continued to break attendance records (on April 30, 1977 they played to 76,229 fans at the Pontiac Silverdome, Michigan, a world record attendance for a solo indoor attraction).

On 3 September 1977, the Grateful Dead performed in front of 100,000 people at Raceway Park in New Jersey, making it the biggest ticketed concert in the USA. Who is the highest-paid singer per concert? The highest-paid singer in the world is the famous singer Bono.

If you're aware of just how expensive it is to buy a ticket for an Ariana concert, then you probably know she's making lots of money from her albums and tours. She's in high demand. That's why she reportedly raked in $8 million for her headlining performance at Coachella 2019.

DSLR. As reported, the events racked up a bill of around US$27 million – US$17 million of which was paid to Jackson for his performances.

What was the biggest benefit concert ever? ›

However, given the industry's plumped-up ticketing and her consistent sell-out stadium business, the Renaissance World Tour could be earning $6.8 million-$7.5 million per show, a personal-best that could potentially notch her first $300 million tour.

Still, the guaranteed $1.75 million per show vastly exceeds media reports that pegged Adele's residency deal at roughly $1.2 million a night.

Is Ariana Grande a billionaire? Ariana Grande is not a billionaire, although she is fabulously wealthy.

How much does Taylor Swift make per show? Swift reportedly makes an estimated $9 million per concert, but that sum is likely spread amongst Swift, her team, promoters, venues and touring production expenses.

Assuming that Grande split the main-character earnings with McCurdy, we can estimate that on the low end, they each received $25,000 per episode of Sam & Cat. At 35 total episodes, she would have made $875,000.

Attracting over 4 million people, including royalty, the Bad Tour proved to be successful, becoming the most-highly attended and highest-earning tour of all time. The follow-up concert series—the Dangerous World Tour of 1992–1993—was also attended by millions.

Michael Jackson had a $500 million net worth before dying.

After subtracting an estimated 20% for distribution and producer royalties, that would leave the Jackson catalog with about $35 million annually.

The Woodstock Festival: The Biggest Concert In History

The Woodstock Festival, which took place between August 16-18, 1969, was one of the most well-known music events in history. The festival was held on Max Yasgur's farm in Bethel, New York, between August 15-17, 1969, and it drew thousands of people.